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Rivals spar over Carter fish hatchery plan
http://johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?ID=76797
By John Thompson
Elizabethton Bureau Chief
jthompson@johnsoncitypress.com
ELIZABETHTON — Some of the first punches were traded in Round 3 of the the political battle between Speaker of the House Kent Williams and his challenger, former State Rep. Jerome Cochran.
The rematch is not official unless Cochran defeats Priscilla G. Steele in the Aug. 5 Republican Primary, but Cochran began the attack shortly after midnight Monday with a news release in which he announced he was opposed to funding $16 million in next year’s budget for a new Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency fish hatchery at the end of Cherokee Park Drive.
Twice-defeated-by-Kent Williams and former TNGA Rep. Jerome Cochran (R-Johnson City)
“I believe the fish hatchery is a wonderful project but we simply cannot afford it at this time. Supporting this project is similar to a family that can’t afford its mortgage going out and buying a new car,” Cochran said in his release.
“During a difficult budget year when the state legislature has cut salaries for teachers and state employees, the fish hatchery should not be a top priority,” Cochran said in his release.
Williams responded strongly when he learned of Cochran’s statement.
“Jerome Cochran has no idea of what is in the budget, he hasn’t been in Nashville in four years and he really didn’t know the budget when he was here,” Williams said, adding that Cochran’s statements about cuts in teacher pay were not true.
Cochran responded to Williams by saying it demonstrated “an arrogance of power.” He said “you don’t have to be in Nashville to see what tax increases are doing to families and small businesses.”
“The money for the fish hatchery is not coming from state funds,” Williams said. “It looks like we are going to get $341 million in federal stimulus money. That is money that has to be spent. You can’t put it in a rainy day fund, it is going to be spent. It is going to be spent all over the state, why not spend a little of it in Carter County?” Williams said.
Cochran said he had not been aware that the $16 million for the project was coming from federal money, but he said with a trillion-dollar deficit, he believed spending federal borrowed funds was even more of a bad idea.
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